The next morning, we all agreed we needed to try and get some idea about how many Sarceastians were stationed on the planet. We wanted to determine if this was a temporary mining mission or if they had in fact set up a permanent or semi-permanent colony. We stuck to the forest so that we could have adequate cover. We noticed that several of the miners were traveling off to the east from the domes that they used to collect the minerals, so we decided to trail them, keeping at a safe distance. Soon, we spotted what we feared we might see. There was a large central dome with several smaller pods extending outwards from it. These structures were what the Sarceastians built when they had the intention of staying longer than a short time.

We could see the look of disappointment on David’s face when we looked out at the structure at the edge of the woods.

"It's as I feared. They aren't just here to remove some minerals, timber and move on. This is a colony that is meant to stay here for some time, which means they are going to wreak havoc on the ecosystem before they finally leave, if they ever do," David moaned.

As we walked back to camp, the mood was solemn. We began to discuss our next move. Yahn and I were both ready to move out and seek out another situation. David, however, was determined to try and do what he could for what he considered to be his only home.

“I think it’s best if we cut our losses and get off of this planet,” Yahn suggested.

“You two can go if you like, but I’m staying here to defend my home.”

Yahn and I looked at each other. As much as we didn’t see the point in going up against so many Sarceastians, we didn’t want to leave our friend to try and mount an attack on his own.

“What can we do to help you?” I asked. Yahn looked at me as if he were going to protest, but he didn’t.

David was sitting on a stump with his hand propping up his chin, deep in thought.

“Well, I was thinking- the cruiser that we bought has a self-destruct device that can probably be disconnected. If we could somehow get the device into the main dome of the colony, we could take out the majority of the Sarceastians all at once.”

“How are we going to get the device planted without putting ourselves in too much danger?” I inquired.

“I am willing to get myself captured. Then, once inside of the dome, I will find a way to plant it, even if I have to activate it inside of my own prison cell,” David reasoned.

“I would hate for you to have to blow yourself up to make that happen,” I pleaded.

“Well, I’m not as young and spry as the two of you. If there’s one thing I’d be willing to lay my life down for it’s this planet. It has provided for me all of these lonely years. It will be my chance to return the favor.”

It was obvious that there was no talking David out of his plan, so we stopped trying and walked back through the woods towards the landing site where we had hidden the space cruiser. Luckily, it had not been discovered, so we removed the vegetation that was covering it up and stood guard while David went inside the ship and began to try and dislodge the self-destruct device. Yahn faced towards the east with a laser cannon in his lap and I faced in the opposite direction, looking for any movement close by. All was still and quiet except for the sounds of birds high up in the trees.

“When we’re finished here, where would you like to go?” Yahn asked me, suddenly.

“I really have no idea. I’m afraid I didn’t have a plan other than to come here and help David,” I answered.

"I'm afraid I don't know either, but I don't think there is any permanent safety to be had on Padure any longer. Even if we destroy this colony, more of the Sarceastians will eventually come. Living a life of guerilla warfare is not what I envisioned for you and me," he said, looking over at me.

"Me neither. I suppose we can just keep searching until we find a habitable planet that is peaceful enough for us to live on," I mused. A few minutes later, David emerged with the device. It was a black, rectangular object about the size of a toolbox. David had also dislodged the control panel that activated the device so that he could detonate it. He took a remote ignition device and rigged it so that it could activate the control panel from a safe distance.

“Ok, now we have the device. Now all I have to do is disguise it and get captured,” David said with a smile. He took a bullet proof vest from the cargo hold of the cruiser and strapped the device to his back underneath the vest. He put the remote in his pocket. As soon as he had done this, we heard the sound of footsteps coming from the nearby forest.

“Quick, cover the ship back up and then we should climb up into the treetops!” Yahn stated in a low voice.

“Not me, I want to get captured,” David whispered.

“No, I have a better idea. We can wait in the treetops until they go by and then, we can come down and take them by surprise. Then, we can disguise ourselves in the guard uniforms, gain access to the dome and plant the device,” I suggested.

“Jessie, you’re a genius,” Yahn said as we quickly covered up the ship and climbed up into the trees. As soon as we had climbed up into the trees, a group of about four armed Sarceastians came walking through the forest. Luckily, they hadn’t noticed the space cruiser that was only about twenty yards from where they were marching. Once they had moved on, we quietly climbed down from the trees and began to follow the Sarceastian patrol with our laser cannons in our hands.

After a half-mile, Yahn nodded to David and me that the time was right to make our move.

“Freeze!” David shouted through his language decoder device. The Sarceastian guards turned around quickly and one of them even tried to fire a shot at us. David quickly shot him and disintegrated him. The others threw their hands up in the air.

"Off with the uniforms!" Yahn commanded them. They looked puzzled but began to take off the hoods and other clothing they wore. Sarceastians looked like hideous dark shadows with glowing red eyes underneath their clothes. Their form was vaguely human but more grotesque. We tied them to the trees and then made our way south towards the dome.

“Wow, that was easier than I suspected,” David said. His mood was beginning to lighten quite a bit.

"And to think, you were going to get yourself captured and risk being blown up," I teased.

David didn’t respond as we made our way to the edge of the forest.

“There’s only three of us. What are we going to say about the fourth guard?” Yahn inquired.

“We will say that a wild Ferondon got him,” David suggested.

“What are those?” I asked.

“They are large, cat-like beasts that roam the forest. Similar to cougars back on Earth, but larger and more formidable,” David shared.

“God, I hope we never encounter one of those,” Yahn said.

“Yeah, me too,” David answered. We put on our hooded guard uniforms and approached the nearest entrance to the dome. It was a round door that blended in with the side of the dome when it wasn’t being opened or closed. A tall guard stood beside it.

“What did you encounter on your patrol, and where is Germounter?” the guard asked.

“A large Ferondon ambushed us. It got him,” David answered. “Other than that, we didn’t see much of anything.”

“Hmm, that is most unfortunate. One of our wide patrols claimed that they saw a band of humans not too far from where you were searching. They must have moved on to another location. Go and write up your reports!” he commanded.

“Yes sir!” David said as the door suddenly opened in front of us. The three of us walked in and were nearly run over by a group of Sarceastians that were walking through, accompanied by a Sarceastian dressed in a fancier, silver robe with a captain's name badge. All around us were Sarceastians moving from place to place. The dome had about five levels, all connected with moving stairways. Everything was white and gray with little decoration or adornment. The Sarceastians were too busy with their operations to worry about art or the aesthetics of their buildings. This dome was very utilitarian- designed to house the guards, miners, and soldiers, and serve as a command post for their operation.

“We need to find the main reactor and place the device nearest to it so that we can be sure that the whole structure is destroyed,” David whispered. “More than likely it will be in the very center, at the lower level.”

Following his advice and relying on his knowledge of the Sarceastians, we walked behind David, down to the lowest level of the dome, beneath the ground. There were two guards standing beside a door that had some strange symbols on it.

"See that door over there? It is labeled with radioactive symbols. That has to be the main reactor," David told with us.

“Are the guards going to let us in and will there be any danger of being exposed to radiation?” Yahn asked.

“We will get inside, and we will only be at risk if we enter the room with the reactor. We aren’t going to get that close,” he answered.

We walked up to the guards who gave us a puzzled look.

"What do you patrol guards want here? You do not have access to the reactor!" one of them jeered.

“We have been given the orders to examine the area. We have reason to believe there may have been a breach of security. Captain Hersinger has given us the order,” David said. I admired his cleverness. He had remembered the captain’s name, whose badge he had read when we first entered the dome.

“Alright, but this is highly irregular,” the other guard said. A door slid open and we walked inside. There was an eerie blue glow coming from the center chamber where the main reactor was located. David took off his robe, unstrapped the black box and put it right next to the center chamber. One of the Sarceastian guards came into the reactor room just as David was putting his uniform back on.

“Who are you?” The guard asked, raising his laser cannon. Yahn fired a laser at him and he fell to the ground.

“Come on, we’ve got to get out of here and fast!” David urged as he got the rest of his uniform back on. We exited the lower chamber and the second guard approached us.

“What’s going on, I heard laser fire inside of the chamber,” the guard asked.

"My laser cannon malfunctioned," David answered. The guard looked over at us suspiciously. Suddenly, he pulled the hood off of my head and I was exposed.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" he asked, raising his weapon. "You will be coming with me!" David raised his laser cannon, suddenly and fired. The shot hit the guard right in the face. He let out a loud screech, attracting the attention of several Sarceastians. We ran as fast as we could towards the exit. I looked behind us and several guards began to chase us. A few of them shot lasers at us. I had to duck to avoid being hit by one of them. Finally, we reached the exit. The guard there tried to stop us, but Yahn shot him. As we reached the cover of the woods, we began to return fire and hit several of them, managing to escape in one piece.